| Bangladesh: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Supreme Audit Institution | ||
| Indicators | Score | |
| 55 | In law, is there a national supreme audit institution, auditor general or equivalent agency covering the entire public sector? | 100 |
| 56 | Is the supreme audit institution effective? | 69 |
| 57 | Can citizens access reports of the supreme audit institution? | 50 |
Indicator and sub-Indicator Details
| 55 | In law, is there a national supreme audit institution, auditor general or equivalent agency covering the entire public sector? | |||||||
| 55: In law, is there a national supreme audit institution, auditor general or equivalent agency covering the entire public sector? | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: The Office of the CAG is administratively under the executive branch, but is functionally independent. The basic structure of the CAG was inherited from the British system following the Exchequer and Audit Department Act, 1866, of the United Kingdom. The office of the Auditor-General was created under the Government of India Act, 1935. References: The Constitution of The People's Republic of Bangladesh provides independence to the office of the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG). Article 127 (1 & 2) of The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh states that "There shall be a Comptroller and Auditor-General of Bangladesh (hereinafter referred to as the Auditor General) who shall be appointed by the president. Subject to the provisions of this constitution and of any law made by Parliament, the conditions of service of the Auditor-General shall be such as the President may, by order, determine." The Supreme Audit Institution i.e., Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh was created in 1973. For more details, please visit, [ LINK ]
|
||||||||
| 56 | Is the supreme audit institution effective? | |||||||
| 56a: In law, the supreme audit institution is protected from political interference. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: Article 128 (4) of Bangladesh Constitution states that "The Auditor-General, in the exercise of his functions under clauses (1), shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority." Article 129 (2) of the Bangladesh Constitution states that "The Auditor-General shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like ground as a judge of the Supreme Court." References: Arts. 127, 128(4), 129 (2) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
|
||||||||
| 56b: In practice, the head of the audit agency is protected from removal without relevant justification. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: References: Interview with A K Azad Khan, deputy director, Local & Revenue Audit Directorate, Audit Complex, Segunbagicha, Dhaka, Sept. 1, 2007, at 11.00 a.m. The Constitution of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. Transparency International, Germany, 2004, National Integrity Systems: Country Study Report, Bangladesh 2003. Transparency International Bangladesh, Fact Finding Report on Comptroller & Auditor General Office, December 2002, www.ti-bangladesh.org
|
||||||||
| 56c: In practice, the audit agency has a professional, full-time staff. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: References: Transparency International Bangladesh, Fact Finding Report on Comptroller & Auditor General Office, December 2002, www.ti-bangladesh.org Nizam Uddin, Ph.D, Bangladesh Institute of Parliamentary Studies, Parliament and Public Spending in Bangladesh: Limits of Control , Sep tember 2000. Interview with A K Azad Khan, deputy director, Local & Revenue Audit Directorate, Audit Complex, Segunbagicha, Dhaka, Sept. 1, 2007, at 11.00 a.m. Transparency International, Germany, 2004, National Integrity Systems: Country Study Report, Bangladesh 2003.
|
||||||||
| 56d: In practice, audit agency appointments support the independence of the agency. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: References: Transparency International Bangladesh, Fact Finding Report on Comptroller & Auditor General Office, December 2002, www.ti-bangladesh.org Nizam Uddin, Ph.D, Bangladesh Institute of Parliamentary Studies, Parliament and Public Spending in Bangladesh: Limits of Control , Sep tember 2000. Interview with A K Azad Khan, deputy director, Local & Revenue Audit Directorate, Audit Complex, Segunbagicha, Dhaka, Sept. 1, 2007, at 11.00 a.m. Transparency International, Germany, 2004, National Integrity Systems: Country Study Report, Bangladesh 2003.
|
||||||||
| 56e: In practice, the audit agency receives regular funding. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: References: Ministry of Finance, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, National Budget 2007-2007, 2006-2007, [ LINK ] Minstry of Finance, Bangladesh Economic Review 2006-2007 & 2007-2008, [ LINK ]
|
||||||||
| 56f: In practice, the audit agency makes regular public reports. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: References: Transparency International Bangladesh, Fact Finding Report on Comptroller & Auditor General Office, December 2002, www.ti-bangladesh.org Nizam Uddin, Ph.D, Bangladesh Institute of Parliamentary Studies, Parliament and Public Spending in Bangladesh: Limits of Control , Sep tember 2000. Interview with A K Azad Khan, deputy director, Local & Revenue Audit Directorate, Audit Complex, Segunbagicha, Dhaka, Sept. 1, 2007, at 11.00 a.m. Transparency International, Germany, 2004, National Integrity Systems: Country Study Report, Bangladesh 2003.
Peer Review Comments: In practice, the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General prepare the reports on audit objections and submit them to Parliament on regular basis. The reports are also submitted to the president.
|
||||||||
| 56g: In practice, the government acts on the findings of the audit agency. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: The Public Accounts Committee is a very important parliamentary standing committee, which is directly responsible and authorized to scrutinize the accounts of the government and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General. A report of TIB entitled Corruption and Parliamentary Oversight: Primacy of the Political Will revealed that from the first Parliament of Bangladesh to April 2004, Public Accounts Committees were able to discuss only 20.7 percent of the audit reports. Between July 2003 and February 2005, the PAC were able to discuss 149 audit objections. References: Transparency International Bangladesh, "Corruption & Parliamentary Oversight: Primacy of the Political Will", [ LINK ]" target="_blank">[ LINK ] Transparency International Bangladesh, Parliament Watch 2001-2006, Feb. 12, 2007, http://www.ti-bangladesh.org/index.php?page_id=401 (available in Bengali) Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh, Audit Report, [ LINK ] Transparency International Bangladesh, Fact-Finding Report on CAG and PAC, Sept. 21, 2002, [ LINK ]
|
||||||||
| 56h: In practice, the audit agency is able to initiate its own investigations. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: References: Transparency International Bangladesh, Fact Finding Report on Comptroller & Auditor General Office, December 2002, www.ti-bangladesh.org Nizam Uddin, Ph.D, Bangladesh Institute of Parliamentary Studies, Parliament and Public Spending in Bangladesh: Limits of Control , Sep tember 2000. Interview with A K Azad Khan, deputy director, Local & Revenue Audit Directorate, Audit Complex, Segunbagicha, Dhaka, Sept. 1, 2007, at 11.00 a.m. Transparency International, Germany, 2004, National Integrity Systems: Country Study Report, Bangladesh 2003.
|
||||||||
| 57 | Can citizens access reports of the supreme audit institution? | |||||||
| 57a: In law, citizens can access reports of the audit agency. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: Each year the CAG of Bangladesh publishes a number of reports including budget performance of the national accounts and the annual finance accounts of the government. The Public Accounts Committee, a select body of Parliament, discusses these reports and then provides necessary directives and recommendations to the executive branch. Source: Shamsuzzaman, Mohammad, Rahman, Niaz, International Journal of Government Auditing, April 2003, Audit profile: Office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of Bangladesh; [ LINK ] References: Article 132 of the Constition of Bangladesh provides that "The reports of the Auditor-General relating to the public acoounts of the Republic shall be submitted to the president, who shall cause them to be laid before Parliament." After all, it is a public document.
|
||||||||
| 57b: In practice, citizens can access audit reports within a reasonable time period. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: References: Transparency International Bangladesh, Fact Finding Report on Comptroller & Auditor General Office, December 2002, www.ti-bangladesh.org Nizam Uddin, Ph.D, Bangladesh Institute of Parliamentary Studies, Parliament and Public Spending in Bangladesh: Limits of Control , Sep tember 2000. Interview with A K Azad Khan, deputy director, Local & Revenue Audit Directorate, Audit Complex, Segunbagicha, Dhaka, Sept. 1, 2007, at 11.00 a.m. Transparency International, Germany, 2004, National Integrity Systems: Country Study Report, Bangladesh 2003.
|
||||||||
| 57c: In practice, citizens can access the audit reports at a reasonable cost. | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Comments: References: Transparency International Bangladesh, Fact Finding Report on Comptroller & Auditor General Office, December 2002, www.ti-bangladesh.org Nizam Uddin, Ph.D, Bangladesh Institute of Parliamentary Studies, Parliament and Public Spending in Bangladesh: Limits of Control , Sep tember 2000. Interview with A K Azad Khan, deputy director, Local & Revenue Audit Directorate, Audit Complex, Segunbagicha, Dhaka, Sept. 1, 2007, at 11.00 a.m. Transparency International, Germany, 2004, National Integrity Systems: Country Study Report, Bangladesh 2003.
|
||||||||
